by Marco Letizia
CR7 hired Leo for €1 billion, who became the kingdom’s testimonial. The sovereign wealth fund Pif, which invested 2 billion in football in 2022 alone. And a candidacy with Egypt and Greece to overcome objections to democracy and human rights
One billion euros by 2030. The colossal sum guaranteed to make Cristiano Ronaldo first a player for Al Nassr, a Saudi Arabian team, and then the Kingdom’s ambassador for the 2030 World Cup seems to mean only one thing: the Saudi government very confident of being awarded the contract for the world’s top football competition. The official decision won’t come until 2024, and Riyadh has been playing its cards to win the competition for some time.
To overcome the veto that now demands not to award the competition to the same continent before the next two editions, the Saudis have launched an intercontinental bid (the first in history) that also includes Egypt and Greece. An Asian federation is thus supplemented by an African and a European federation. This candidacy is currently the most accredited Cup compared to the other two existing, namely that of the trio Portugal, Spain and Ukraine and the coalition of the four South American nations Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina and Chile, is played by 48 teams, and itself investment in the necessary sports facilities is expected to increase sharply compared to the 32-team edition recently completed in Qatar. That is why states have to join forces in order to be able to bear the costs.
Riyadh has been playing its cards for a long time. In May, Leo Messi, newly crowned world champion with Argentina and longtime rival of Cristiano Ronaldo, had signed a deal with Saudi Arabia to help boost the kingdom in terms of tourism, which sparked controversy when he beat Albiceleste 2 in the Saudis’ opening game: 1 at the World Cup (and that puts the champions in an awkward position as they face the candidacy of their native Argentina). With the acquisition of CR7, Riyadh now has an unmatched team of testimonials.
On the purely economic front, PIF, Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, which manages assets worth almost €560 billion and controls Premier League club Newcastle, has invested in football in 2022 alone, the Financial Times reports, around 2 billion and 150 million euros. Without forgetting the offer of 138 million euros for 6 years (until 2029) to make the Italian Super Cup play in the Kingdom in a new 4-team format (the first two of the championship against the finalists of the previous Italian Cup) more games to show on TV. As is already the case for the Spanish league, which played its first 4-man Supercup game in 2020.
But the current prime minister and heir to the throne, Mohammed bin Salman, has even more ambitious plans. In his vision, expressed in the Vision 2030 project, he wants to prepare the kingdom to move away from economic dependence on oil and onto a path of faster modernization to prepare it when oil loses its value as a global energy source in the next few decades. To this end, 80 projects have been launched to be implemented by 2030, focusing on renewable energy and the environment, the water sector, biotechnology, the food chain, technological and digital sciences, advanced manufacturing, tourism, the mining sector, defence, materials, design, logistics, engineering, construction, infrastructure and transport as well as media entertainment and sports. The most important one, the creation of Neom, the smart city of the future, requires investments of 450 billion euros.
To win the 2030 World Cup, Saudi Arabia would be willing to invest massively, we’re talking hundreds of billions, in infrastructure and stadiums. Definitely a number higher than the roughly 200-220 billion that much smaller Qatar is spending. Sport in general and soccer in particular have been chosen by the Saudi government as a demonstration of soft power. And because of this, in recent years, the Kingdom has been hosting more and more high-level sporting events, from golf to boxing to F1.
But before the 2030 World Cup can be bagged, there are still major hurdles to be overcome, primarily of a political and social nature. The lack of respect for human rights (the assassination of journalist Khashoggi is the most striking example), democratic flaws, the backwardness of the situation of women and rigid social rules have led a major human rights organization like Human Rights Watch to say that the World Cup would be a another example of sportswear for Saudi Arabia or an attempt to distract from its gross human rights abuses by appropriating events celebrating the achievements of humanity.
Then there is the purely sporting aspect. A World Cup in Saudi Arabia would mean another World Cup after Qatar, to be played in the winter, which many European clubs and UEFA itself do not want. And for that reason, the decision to include Greece in the organizing countries seems like a smart move to try to get as broad a consensus as possible. Like the Olympic Games, the World Cup has always been seen not only as a sporting event, but above all as a sign of rebirth or the rise of a nation. This is exactly why Riyadh dreams of organizing both within 20 years. Will Saudi Arabia succeed in its plan?
Jan 1, 2023 (change Jan 1, 2023 | 3:38pm)
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